\n In 2014, workers aged 55 and over accounted for less than a fifth of the total workforce, at 19.7%.\n<\/p>\n
\n Between 2020 and 2024, the number plateaued between 24.2% and 24.3%.\n<\/p>\n
\n The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the danger for the NHS was that “too many experienced nurses leaving and too few applying to study nursing”.\n<\/p>\n
\n The demographic breakdown shows starkly different workforces between health boards.\n<\/p>\n
\n While 23.7% of NHS Grampian’s staff are over 55 with a median age of 43, some 31.1% of NHS Highland staff are over 55 with a median age of 47.\n<\/p>\n
\n In NHS Western Isles it is 30.9% and in NHS Borders<\/a> it is 30%.\n<\/p>\n \n The figures are drawn from Turas workforce data and count individual employees rather than whole-time equivalents, so they include part-time staff. They cover all health boards and all roles, including non-clinical staff.\n<\/p>\n \n The RCN’s own analysis<\/a>, published in May, found 23.3% of the NHS nursing workforce was aged 55 and over in 2025, compared with 18.2% in 2016.\n<\/p>\n \n More than 17,500 registered nurses are over 55. The proportion is higher among nursing support workers, at 32.1%.\n<\/p>\n \n The pattern is sharper in community services. Nearly three in ten health visiting staff, 29.8%, are 55 or over, as are 26% of district nurses.\n<\/p>\n \n At the same time, the RCN said fewer people are entering the profession<\/a>. There were 3,340 acceptances onto undergraduate nursing courses at Scottish universities in 2025, 11.2% fewer than in 2019 and more than 1,000 short of the intake target for the year.\n<\/p>\n \n Applications for courses starting this autumn were up 2.2% by the January deadline, the first rise in four years, but remained about a quarter below pre-pandemic levels.\n<\/p>\n \n NHS Education<\/a> for Scotland figures cited by the RCN show 2,788 whole-time equivalent nursing posts were vacant at the end of December, a vacancy rate of 4.1% compared with 3.1% a year earlier.\n<\/p>\n \n The RCN’s report also suggests retirement is only part of the picture. In the year to March 2025, 54.5% of registered nurses who left the NHS were aged between 20 and 49.\n<\/p>\n \n Nearly 1,100 nursing staff retired, the lowest number in a decade, and voluntary resignations have outnumbered retirals since 2023.\n<\/p>\n \n Colin Poolman, Executive Director of RCN Scotland, said: “A focus on nursing workforce planning should absolutely be a priority for the Scottish Government<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \n “More needs to be done to retain nursing staff and improve career pathways, as there are too many experienced nurses leaving and too few applying to study nursing.\n<\/p>\n \n “As more and more of the nursing workforce reaches 55 and over, the risk is more and more decide to leave or retire due to the pressures and working conditions.\n<\/p>\n \n “The Scottish Government should be looking to deliver the Nursing and Midwifery Taskforce recommendations to improve the working environment. This would support new and experienced nurses to stay.”\n<\/p>\n